Photos: Thousands Climb Hudson Yards' Vessel On Opening Weekend

Scott Lynch

Published Mar 18, 2019

Modified Mar 18, 2019

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Scott Lynch / Gothamist

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Scott Lynch

Published Mar 18, 2019

Modified Mar 18, 2019

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Update/PSA: Turns out any photo you take at the Vessel is theirs to use forever.

After three years and $200 million, Thomas Heatherwick's enormous piece of interactive public art, called Vessel, opened this weekend at Hudson Yards. And while we already know what it looks like to fly a drone down into the middle of this beehive/pineapple/shawarma/staircase-to-nowhere, Sunday was the first chance I had to get in and traverse it, joining thousands of others who showed up for opening weekend. Here are some thoughts:

(Scott Lynch / Gothamist)

The giddy excitement I felt throughout my hour-long Vessel adventure was way more than I expected. The views change constantly and dramatically, and all of them are cool and dramatic in different ways, whether your high up or down low. Note: that might change once construction starts on the Western Yards, blocking those broad Hudson River vistas.
The capacity on Vessel is capped at 700—and, as impossibly discreet signs will tell you, 31 is the limit on each of the top platforms—but it never feels crowded. You can start your climb in any of four stairwells, and then turn right or left dozens of times, so everyone fans out quickly. Plus, people keep moving, because there's always another vantage point to be had, and most of stairways and landings along the circuitous route are wide enough to avoid bottlenecks.
Climbing the Vessel is free, and you're encouraged to reserve a timed-ticket online (it's currently sold out for the next two weeks, but every morning at 8 a.m. a number of slots are made available for that same day, as well as tickets for each newly opened day two weeks out). You can also just walk-up to the site, wait on line, and get in during the next available slot... which sounds like a nightmare, but the wait even during peak Sunday afternoon, around 2:30 p.m., was well under an hour. It's an efficient operation at the moment, and there are a dozen or so "Vessel Information" people all over the grounds to help you navigate the process.
Vessel is tall. At the uppermost levels you are 150 feet high, or about fifteen stories in the air, and the clear, protective walls came up only to my chest. It's all very outdoors too, which is great, but the western platforms especially got very windy yesterday. If you're afraid of heights—or if you readily experience the High Places Phenomenon, which makes you feel like you might leap into the abyss, even though you don't want to—you feet may sweat up top.
If don't want to or aren't able to climb fifteen stories (there are actually 2,500 total steps in the Vessel, or about a mile's worth of walking if you do the entire route), there's an elevator you can take right to the top.
At the very center of the bottom floor is a cement circle ringed, for no apparent reason, by blue lights. The thing to do here, apparently, is put your phone in the middle, set the timer, and have your crew lean over for that sweet, sweet selfie shot.
The Public Square and Gardens surrounding Vessel may well be an engineering marvel, but, like the vast mall it feeds into, there aren't really any places to sit here. Some low walls to the north, framing the flower beds, work just fine as a snacking place, and the stairs facing the river will likely be a popular perch come full-on springtime. There are also benches near the entrance to the 7 train at 34th Street, and to the south, as you head to the High Line, but it's almost as if Related didn't want folks to actually hang out in their park.

Vessel is located in Hudson Yards, basically between 10th and 11th Avenues, and 34th and 30th Streets. The good news: what was for years an inaccessible construction site is now completely open and can be approached from all four directions.

Here's our guide to the massive new development, and a guide to what you'll find to eat there.

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